Abstract

Election is the ‘backbone’ of democracy. In the absence of elections, democracy will stagger and unable to
maintain its state position. Fair and transparent election is a timely dose for maintaining the health of the
democratic system. Democracy and elections symbolize modern and cultured nations in the present era. At
present democracy is not only a political system but also a socioeconomic arrangement. Election is a capable
and powerful instrument through which modern states create a sense of participation and sharing among the
citizens. A flawless election process is the foundation of the real representative government. The author looks at
the worldwide views about electoral systems to understand what ideas helped different democracies in the world
to survive and why they sought for public opinions via different means and methods. Better alternative models of
electoral processes are needed in place of electoral processes that typically follow the Westminster system.
Criminalization of politics is also a serious detriment to holding fair and free elections, another point that the
author will dwell upon in this article. Different voting procedures across the world as well as how they initiate and
regularize the voting process and compel citizens to vote and get rid of voters’ neutrality in order to strengthen
democratic governance are also discussed.

ELECTORAL REFORMS IN INDIA

Prepared by Smt. Minakshi Sharma, Joint Director (23035037) of Lok Sabha
Secretariat under the supervision of Shri Naushad Alam, Director (23034749) and Shri
R.C. Tiwari, Joint Secretary (23034430).

The Reference Note is for personal use of the Members in the discharge of their
Parliamentary duties, and is not for publication. This Service is not to be quoted as the
source of information as it is based on the sources indicated at the end/in the context.

Electoral Reforms in India

Introduction

Elections lie at the very heart of democracy. It is through elections that people
in a democracy participate in public affairs and express their will. It is again
through elections that power changes hands in a peaceful and orderly manner
in a democracy and the authority of government gets clothed with legitimacy.
„Elections, thus not only sustain democracy but enliven it as well. Holding of
free and fair election is, therefore, a sine qua non of democracy.

India is both the largest and one of the most populous democracies in the
world. This apart, in comparison to most of the developed democracies of the
world, problems of illiteracy, poverty, etc. still continue in India as is the case
with most of the developing countries. Its electorate is not only vast but also
quite diverse reflecting the plurality of caste, religion, region, language, etc. of
its social mosaic. Conducting periodic elections in the country by encouraging
large-scale popular participation is a stupendous task.
Going by India‟s record in this regard, periodic elections as a means of smooth
transfer of power have been a regular and successful feature of India‟s
democracy in the past seventy years. Not only this, Indians have time and
again reposed faith in elections as the most potent means of non-violent and
peaceful protest against all acts of omissions and commissions of Government.
Elections have thus become integral to India‟s democracy as elsewhere in
other successful liberal democracies, the world over.

However, certain aberrations have come to the fore in the very working of the
electoral system over the years. The need to address such disturbing factors
have generated a debate on electoral reforms in the country. The Election
Commission which is under the Constitution is vested with the actual power of
superintendednce, direction and control of elections in the country, has, from
time
2

to time, come up with concrete proposals/suggestions based on objective

difficulties encountered in the conduct of elections. Politicians, through the
platform of parties and Parliament including its various committees constituted
for the purpose, have given vent to their desire for reform. Governments have
also undertaken certain redemptive measures based on the recommendations of
various committees. The process of reforms as well as the debate in this regard
have almost been an on-going process.

Electoral Process: General Elections at a glance

Among all the countries liberated from the colonial yoke, India alone has
earned the singular distinction of not only being the world‟s longest
functioning effective democracy but also of setting an example by conducting
as many as seventeen free and fair general elections to the National Legislature,
Lok Sabha and more than 350 elections to the State Legislatures. Successive
elections have both enhanced and deepened the people‟s commitment to
democracy.

The election to the Lok Sabha being direct, the territory of India is divided into
territorial constituencies for the election. At present, the allocation of seats in
the Lok Sabha is based on 1971 Census and will continue to be so till 2026.
The term of the Lok Sabha, unless dissolved sooner is five years from the date
appointed for its first meeting.

The total number of seats in the Lok Sabha is 545 at present. The 28 States
elect 530 members of Parliament (LS) while the remaining 13 are added from
the Union territories and two are nominated by the President as per provisions
of Article 331 of the Constitution from the Anglo-Indian Community which
was abolished in 2019. Provision also exists for reserved seats for Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Since 1989, the size of the Lok Sabha increased
from 544 to 545. The extra seat was the result of Goa becoming a State (on
May 30, 1987).

Election Commission of India

The Constitution entrusts the responsibility to supervise, direct and control the
entire procedure and machinery for election and also for some other ancillary
matters, on the Election Commission of India under Article 324. At present, it
constitutes the CEC and two Election Commissioners. The Election
Commission has the power of superintendence, direction and control of all
elections to Parliament and the State Legislature and to the offices of the
President and Vice- President.

There has been a marked increase in the total number of candidates contesting
the elections. While in 1952, 1864 candidates contested for 489 elective seats,
in 2019, 8026 candidates were in the fray for 543 seats. A Table detailing the
general election, number of election seats, candidates contested, electorate etc.
5

II. Multiparty System

Apart from the above, other function which also paved the way for electoral
reforms in India include increase in the number of regional parties from time to
time as a result of multiparty system that is followed in India in comparison to
by- party system in many countries. Alongside, there has been a substantial
increase in the number of independent candidates. This has impinged upon the
stability of Government in power. Moreover, this has also helped the
phenomena of political defections, coalition politics, etc.

Apart from these, increasing electoral expenses over the years has been a cause
of concern. As a result, elections seem to have increasingly become an affair of
the affluent. This has also, in turn, contributed to the rise of political corruption.
In additional to these, electoral malpractices like booth capturing or poll
rigging, violence and popular apathy towards participation in the polls are some
of the issues which also need to be addressed and resolved in the interest of free
and fair election.
Electoral Reforms in India

The need for electoral reforms was increasingly felt towards the late 1960‟s in
India. Till then the electoral system had functioned quite satisfactorily except
for few of aberrations in the form of some malpractices like rigging or violence
which are rather small in number. There was one party rule at the Centre and in
most of the States. But this scenario began to change after the Fourth General
elections held in 1967. Regional parties and rule by coalition of parties began to
emerge in the States. The emergence of alternative party governments in the
State witnessed the accentuation of some of the negative traits and distortions in
the political system which manifested themselves in a greater degree in electoral
politics.

A parliamentary Committee was constituted for the first time in 1970 to

suggest amendments to Election Law from all angles. But with the dissolution
of Lok Sabha in December 1970, the life of this Committee also came to an
end. Subsequent to the Constitution of a new Lok Sabha in 1971, Parliament
formed a Joint Parliamentary Committee on Amendments to Election Law
headed by Shri Jagannath Rao.

In subsequent years, a number of Committees viz. the Tarkunde Committee

(1974), the Dinesh Goswami Committee (1990), V.K. Krishna Iyer Committee
(1994) and the Indrajit Gupta Committee (1998) have been constituted to
examine issues relating to electoral reforms. Apart from these, the Election
Commission has also, from time to time, made proposals for reforms. Starting
from 1970, the Election Commission has submitted its recommendations on
electoral reforms in 1977, 1982, 1990, 1992 and 2004. This apart, political
parties through the platform of all-party meetings have also suggested for
electoral reforms. The Law Commission (i.e. the 15th Law Commission) was
also constituted in November, 1977 for an exhaustive study of the
Representation of the People Act, 1951 with a view to finding out and
identifying the measures necessary in the direction of electoral reforms. The
Law Commission has submitted its 170th report regarding reform of the
Election System. In addition, Government has also initiated redemptive
measures from time to time.
Proposals for reforms Recommendations of Law Commission

The Supreme Court of India, in the matter of „Public Interest Foundation &
Others V. Union of India & Anr- Writ Petition (Civil) No. 536 of 2011,
directed the Law Commission of India to make suggestions on two specific
issues, viz., (i) „curbing criminalization of politics and needed law reforms‟;
and (ii) „impact and

consequences of candidates filing false affidavits and needed law reforms to

check such practice‟. In the light of this judgment, the Commission worked
specifically on these two areas and, after series of discussions, followed by a
National Consultation held on 1st February 2014, submitted its 244th Report
titled „Electoral Disqualification‟ on 24th February 2014 to the Government of
India.

The law Commission of India submitted its Report No. 255 on “Electoral
Reforms” to the Union Law and Justice Ministry. Justice Shri A. P. Shah,
Chairman of the Law Commission of India presented the201 page report after
due consideration and deliberations with the stakeholders including of
registered national and state political parties and extensive and in-depth analysis
of various issues by the commission.

Following is the summary of the report on various issues discussed in the

report:

1. Election Finance

The Law Commission has proposed wide ranging reforms on the issue of
expenses incurred by candidate such as limits; disclosure obligations of
individual candidates and political parties; and penalties imposable on political
parties; as well as examining the issue of state funding of elections.

The electoral bond scheme introduced in 2018 is a method of political funding.

It aimed at ensuring enhanced accountability to defeat the growing menace of
black money and to promote transparency in funding and donations received by
the political parties. Only a political party registered of the Representation of
the People Act, 1951, and which has secured more than one per cent of the
votes polled in the last election to the Lok Sabha would be eligible to receive
the bonds.
The Commission does not consider a system of complete state funding of
elections or matching grants to be feasible, given the current conditions of the
country.

2. Regulation of Political Parties and Inner Party Democracy

Democratic theory can be thought of to include accounts of both procedural and

substantive democracy. Procedural democracy can be said to refer to the
practice of universal adult franchise, periodic elections, secret ballot, while
substantive democracy can be said to refer to the internal democratic
functioning of the parties, which purportedly represent the people. This section
deals with the internal democratic functioning of parties and the question of
how parties should function and regulate themselves.

3. Proportional Representation

It is clear that both the electoral systems come with their own merits and
demerits – proportional representation theoretically being more representative,
while the FPTP system being more stable. It is also clear, from the experience
of other countries that any changes in India‟s electoral system will have to
follow a hybrid pattern combining elements of both direct and indirect elections.
This, in turn will necessitate an increase in the number of seats in the Lok
Sabha, which raises concerns regarding its effective functioning.

4. Anti Defection Law in India

The Law Commission recommends a suitable amendment to the Tenth Schedule

of the Constitution, which shall have the effect of vesting the power to decide
on questions of disqualification on the ground of defection with the President or
the Governor, as the case may be, (instead of the Speaker or the Chairman),
who shall act on the advice of the ECI. This would help preserve the integrity of
the Speaker‟s office.

The Supreme Court delivered a verdict recently that could have far-reaching
consequences for legislative assemblies.

The Court made two important declarations. First, the Speakers of both the State
Assemblies and the Parliament have to decide on disqualification petitions for
members within three months except for the existence of an extraordinary
circumstance. It also held that courts have the powers to intervene if the
proceedings are delayed. Second, the court recommended to Parliament that it
strongly considers removing the Speakers‟ disqualification powers and forming
an independent tribunal to take up these petitions. The rationale for this
suggestion is that Speakers invariably come from the ruling parties and act in a
partisan manner.

5. Strengthening the office of the Election Commission of India

The ECI should be strengthened by first, giving equal constitutional protection

to all members of the Commission in matters of removability; second, making
the appointment process of the Election Commissioners and the CEC
consultative; and third, creating a permanent, independent Secretariat for the
ECI.

6. Paid News and Political Advertisements

Amendment in the RP Act 1951, to provide therein that publishing and abetting
the publishing of „paid news‟ for furthering the prospect of election of any
candidate or for prejudicially affecting the prospect of election of any candidate
be made an electoral offence under chapter-III of part-VII of RP Act, 1951 with
punishment of a minimum of two years imprisonment.

In order to curb the practice of disguised political advertisement, disclosure

provisions should be made mandatory for all forms of media.

7. Opinion Polls

Under Section 126 of Representation of the People Act, 1951, which prohibits,
apart from holding, convening or attending any public meeting or procession,
“display to the public any election matter by means of cinematography,
television or other similar apparatus”, during the period of forty-eight hours
ending with the hour fixed for the conclusion of the poll. Contravention of the
above prohibition is a penal offence punishable with imprisonment upto 2 years
or with fine or with both.

8. Compulsory Voting

The Law Commission does not recommend the introduction of compulsory

voting in India and in fact, believes it to be highly undesirable for a variety of
reasons described above such as being undemocratic, illegitimate, expensive,
unable to improve quality political participation and awareness, and difficult to
implement.

9. Election Petitions

Wide-ranging reforms have been suggested by the Election Commission to deal

with “disputes regarding elections”.

10

10. NOTA and the Right to Reject

The Law Commission currently rejects the extension of the NOTA principle to
introduce a right to reject the candidate and invalidate the election in cases
where a majority of the votes have been polled in favour of the NOTA option.

11. The Right to Recall

The Law Commission opposes the introduction of the right to recall in any form because it
can lead to an excess of democracy, undermine elected candidates' independence, ignore
minority interests, increase instability and chaos, increase the likelihood of misuse and abuse,
and is difficult and expensive to implement in practise, especially given India's first past the
post electoral system.

12. Totaliser for Counting of Votes

The Commission reiterates and supports the ECI's recommendation that a totaliser be used to
tally votes recorded in electronic voting machines in order to prevent voter harassment in
regions where voting trends in each polling station may be ascertained. Ballot papers could
be combined prior to the introduction of EVMs under Rule 59A of the Election Rules, but
this was not allowed for EVMs. Using a totaliser throughout the counting process would
increase the privacy of votes, preventing the revelation of voting patterns and reducing fears
of intimidation and victimisation.

13. Restriction on Government Sponsored Advertisements

The Commission recommends regulating and restricting government-sponsored

advertisements six months before the House/Assembly expires in order to maintain election
purity, prevent the use of public funds for partisan interests such as highlighting the
government's accomplishments, and ensure that the ruling party or candidate does not gain an
unfair advantage over others in the spirit of free and fair elections.

14. Restriction on the Number of Seats from which a Candidate May Contest

The Law Commission recommends amending section 33(7) of the RPA, which allows a
candidate to run in up to two seats in any election (parliamentary, assembly, biennial council,
or bye-elections). Given the current situation,

Because of the time and effort required, election fatigue, and voter harassment, section 33(7)
should be changed to allow candidates to run in just one constituency.

15. Independent Candidates

Independent candidates should be prevented from running for office, according to the Law
Commission, because the current system allows a proliferation of independents, most of
whom are dummy/non-serious candidates or those who run (under the same name) merely to
confuse voters. As a result, sections 4 and 5 of the RPA should be changed to allow only
political parties that have registered with the ECI under section 11(4) to run in Lok Sabha or
Vidhan Sabha elections.

16. Preparation and Use of Common Electoral Rolls

The Law Commission agrees with the ECI's recommendations for establishing uniform
electoral rolls for Parliamentary, Assembly, and local government elections.

Conclusion

It is widely acknowledged that the country's voting process has developed some flaws
throughout time that need to be addressed. However, this should be done gradually and
continuously, after substantial debate and discussion.

The importance of electoral reforms has been recognised by successive governments at the
national level. Suggestions for electoral reforms presented by the Election Commission or
various committees on a regular basis have been carefully studied and implemented. While
considering the recommendations and suggestions for election reforms, it has also been
stressed that the country's political parties must come together.
The government recognises that electoral reform is an ongoing process that will require the
efforts of all parties, including the government and election officials.

12 The Election Commission of India, the Law Commission, and others will execute such
electoral reform measures as consensus emerges from time to time.
Sources Checked
1. Constitutional and Parliamentary Studies Journal
2. The 2014 General Election Vol (Press Information Bureau) 3. General Election 2019
Statistical Report 4. Press Release 2015 5. Economic Times, 2019
Report No. 255 of the Law Commission